Memorial services for James A. Bachert, 59, of North Judson, Indiana will be Thursday, July 3, 2014 at 10 a.m. CT at the SS Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in North Judson. Visitation is Wednesday, July 2, 2014 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. CT at the O’Donnell Funeral Home in North Judson. Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.

A Grovertown man faces multiple charges after detectives from the Starke County Sheriff’s Department served a warrant at his home late last week. Detective Rob Olejniczak says items reported stolen from the Grovertown home of Hope Grounds on June 15 were recovered at Stephen Danti’s residence in the 4000 North block of 1100 East. Continue reading →

A habitual traffic violator faces new charges in Starke County after his arrest on Friday by a Starke County Sheriff’s Deputy. A vehicle driven by Steven Gott was pulled over on 350 East after running a stop sign, according to information from the sheriff’s department. Gott’s license is suspended, and he was also consuming alcohol while driving, according to the arrest report.

Funeral services for Theresa L. “Terri” Mattke, 60, of Plymouth, are Saturday, July 5 at 3 p.m. EDT at Van Gilder Funeral Home in Plymouth, with visitation there from 1 p.m. until the time of the service.

Funeral services for Jack L. Johnson, 67, of Plymouth, are Wednesday, July 2 at 10:30 a.m. EDT at St. Michael Catholic Church. Visitation is Tuesday, July 1 from 4 until 7 p.m. EDT at Van Gilder Funeral Home in Plymouth.

A traffic stop just before 1 a.m. Sunday on U.S. 31 north of 4A Road in Marshall County ended with the arrest of a man police say was driving under the influence with two children in the vehicle. Jihad A. Muhammad failed several field sobriety tests, according to a news release from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department. It notes officers could smell burnt marijuana coming from inside the vehicle and found a baggie of possible pot inside the car. Muhammad refused a certified chemical test. He faces charges of operating while intoxicated – endangering, which is a class D felony, as well as possession of marijuana under 30 grams and driving while suspended-prior. The children were released at the scene to their mother.

One thing for sure, Had a poll been taken of my EastWing friends before the fight, Mr. Bentley would not have gone to the Coon War and I’d still be trying to negotiate a deal to keep the raccoon from eating the deck cats food.

Now before I say anything else, Mr. Bentley is well. He did not suffer and lasting effects of the Coon War. I must say, I never dreamed so many friends cared so much about Mr. Bentley. Last Week every single email had Mr. Bentley included in the discussion. Even the one who gave me a bunch of crap for something I could not ever figure out what they were talking about. Even that one had kind words for the Big Puppy.

One of the interesting things about telling a real life story is, there are events that occurred prior to the start of the story, and events continued after the story ended. Such was the case of Mr. Bentley and big coon. Much the same way as when two or even three people observe the same set of events and each write the story of such things. The stories all come out different. Same events, different stories.

One of the more widely read set of stories of this type of storytelling can be found in the first three books of the New Testament, Mathew, Mark, and Luke. Reading such, one could ask if they were all at the same party. They were. Then if you read the Books of Mathew Mark and Luke again, and again, you start to realize, yes it is the same story, just seen from different sets of eyes.

So with all the bad mouthing I got for putting Mr. Bentley in harm’s way, I’m reverting to a technique from an old and dear friend of mine, Paul Harvey, “And now for the rest of the story.”

The Big Raccoon did not just wonder upon the north deck on dark night and was attacked by the Homeland Security Officer. The Big Coon had molested the cats and eaten the cat food almost every night for two weeks. Several attempts to persuade the big fellow to abandon his stealing ways and find other nocturnal entertainment were not met with success.

Pitching water on the coon had no adverse effect. Poking said coon with a broomstick, likewise. The Big Coon even became accustom to my voice. At first, he’d run when I spoke, but soon after, he’d just look up at me standing in the north deck doorway, kinda grin and return to his late night supper.

All the while I was making efforts to rid the EastWing of said coon, Mr. Bentley, every night, standing by my side wanted to apply his special technique of Coon Control. Only after all my efforts were unsuccessful, it was then, and only then, did I decide to give Mr. Bentley a chance to demonstrate his Raccoon Eradication skills. The skills of the President of Pit Bull Inc. were impressive.

After the night battle, and the injured gladiator received proper medical attention, me and Mr. Bentley slept holding hands. The following morning we surveyed the battlefield. What we found in the daylight was way more impressive than what I thought the opponent would look like in the sunshine. Mr. Bentley took one look at the demolished gladiator, turned and walked back to the EastWing.

I thought the raccoon was a big one in the nightlight. In the sunshine it was the largest raccoon I’d ever seen. In fact, so big I decided to get the bathroom scale and weigh the big coon for the record. The thing was so large it would not all fit on the bathroom scale, so I weighed myself, picked up the coon, and done the math. 34 lbs. Not being a hunter, I had no idea if this was a normal adult raccoon, small one, or what. Asking my brother-in-law, Dexter Mullins, I found out that 34 lbs is a monster of a coon.

It turned out that Mr. Bentley had taken on the “Godzilla of the Raccoon World”. What amazed me, when I realized the size and weight of this trespasser of the EastWing, he was within 2 lbs of being half the size of Mr. Bentley. What my brother-in-law told me about big coons was that they can easily kill dogs twice their size if they are able to get the fight into water. The coon will drown the dog ever time.

“And now you know the rest of the story” Thanks Paul Harvey.

It was with that bit of information that Mr. Bentley and I had a long talk on how to handle raccoons when they enter into the kill zone as established by Pit Bull Inc. From now on, all intruders with ring tails will be dealt with using the little hand gun with the magic red light.

That little gun is so cool, you don’t even have to be a cowboy to know how to shoot that pistol. It’s the red dot thing that makes me a marksman. Ya don’t even have to aim or anything, just watch the little red dot. Where goes the red dot, so goes the bullet when ya squeeze. That little gun is just so cool.

A woman police say came to the Marshall County Jail early Sunday morning to post bond for a prisoner wound up back there as an inmate a short time later. According to a news release from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, several people came to the jail at 4:15 a.m. As they were leaving about 20 minutes later, a jail staffer noticed one or more of them was possibly drunk. Continue reading →

Preparation is the driving force behind road projects on Starke County 300 East through the Knox Industrial Park. Work will start next week on the reconstruction of the State Road 8 and 300 East intersection as well as on the widening of 300 East between Pacific Avenue and Culver Road.

“We’re making it attractive and possible for companies to come into Starke County to invest and to hire people. To do that we have to have the site ready,” Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Charles Weaver tells WKVI News. “We have to have a place where they can build, hence the tree project. We have to have a place that they can get access to – the road projects. We have to make it safe, because we have on these same roads school buses going down them, we’ve got tractor-trailer rigs, we’ve got personal cars, we’ve got grain trucks. It’s not safe now.” Continue reading →

Set yourself apart from the crowd by gaining leadership skills that will assist you in the future. Leadership Starke County is recruiting members for their third leadership class . They are hoping to get 12 adults and three high school students for the 2014-2015 class. Continue reading →

Ancilla College will soon have a new president. This is Dr. Ron May’s last day. He’s retiring after eight years at the private, two-year school. He says Ancilla fills an important niche for students by giving them the foundation to either continue their education at a four-year institution like IU or Purdue or succeed in the workforce after they graduate. Continue reading →

A local school corporation will have a new superintendent when classes start in the fall. This is Charles Mellon’s last day at West Central. He’s retiring after 34 years with the corporation. Mellon started there as an assistant principal in 1980 and worked his way into the front office.

“It is a great place to raise a family. Most things are centered around school and church in this community. That’s what we enjoyed. A lot of our staff that come in new stay. That’s a good sign that’s a good place to live and a good, strong school corporation,” Mellon told WKVI News. Continue reading →

Today, we say a fond farewell to our mentor, colleague and friend, Ted Hayes. Over the years, Ted has served in many capacities at WKVI: general manager, news director, commercial producer and longtime on-air personality, forging many friendships throughout the Kankakee Valley and our listening area.

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway on June 28, 2014 in Sparta, Kentucky. Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Brad Keselowski had a car that was unbeatable. It started out of the gate on the pole and finished in the winning position Saturday night in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He led 199 out of the 267 laps in the race.

As he celebrated in Victory Lane with his crew, a champagne bottle exploded in Keselowski’s right hand which required a trip to the infield care center. That wasn’t about to cork his night. He returned to Victory Lane four stitches later to continue the celebration.

Culver Community Schools received the highest honor that the Indiana Department of Education offers for their 2013/14 school year. Recently the school received an unexpected letter from director of accreditation at the IDOE. Continue reading →

Summer temperatures continue to soar, and although it may seem like common sense to never keep your child in a parked car, over the past 16 years more than 600 children have died of heatstroke due to being left unattended in a vehicle. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on a 60 degree day, temperatures inside a car can reach well above 110 degrees quickly.Continue reading →

If you are thinking about ways to leave a legacy to the community, Ancilla College officials urge you to consider setting up a scholarship fund to help students further their education. Executive Director of Institutional Management Todd Zeltwanger says donors can establish a named scholarship with a minimum contribution of $25,000. The Jack and Peggy Lynch family recently set one up to help a nontraditional student attend Ancilla. Continue reading →